


Second Chances

by Shoz



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Father-Son Relationship, Gemenice, Gen, Growing Young Again, Inspired by Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 20:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11722149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shoz/pseuds/Shoz
Summary: When Captain Cold, on vacation from the Legends, gets struck by a meta and turned into a little kid, Barry finds himself taking care of him. Being a new father is never easy - especially when Lenny distrusts everyone and the meta is coming after them both for revenge.





	1. Prologue - Too Much Paperwork

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Growing young again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4830941) by [Gemenice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemenice/pseuds/Gemenice). 



> This work was inspired by the fanfic Growing Young Again. I just couldn't stop thinking of little scenes between Barry and little Lenny. So I decided to write my own fanfic. This is the result.

Barry groaned in frustration, banging his head on the kitchen table, groaning again louder when the action served to shift the pile of papers enough to go tumbling to the floor. He huffed to himself and bent over to gather them up before plopping them down and glaring at the offending documents.

“I swear, these things have GOT to be breeding somehow,” he grumbled. “That’s the ONLY explanation. As soon as I leave, the papers come to life and start making baby papers. I’m going to come home this week to find that papers have taken over the house.”

Running his hand through short brown locks, Barry took a deep breath to try to calm his frazzled nerves. He couldn’t believe that simply filling out forms would be more exhausting than fighting crime. But the amount of sheer bureaucracy he had to wade through was becoming overwhelming. Even filling them out at superspeed didn't seem to reduce the size of the pile. He’d almost rather face off against Zoom or the Reverse Flash again than continue cutting through the endless red tape. Almost.

“Barry? Are you in here?” a young voice cut through Barry’s musings and he looked up to see a pair of blue eyes peering around the door frame. His frustrations were instantly wiped away at seeing the reminder of just why he was going over paperwork at 3 AM and he smiled warmly.

“You should be in bed,” he said.

“I couldn’t sleep,” was the reply, the young boy shuffling into the kitchen, slightly-too-long pajama bottoms covering his feet. “What are you doing?”

“Filling out the applications. It’s a little aggravating at the moment. Why can’t you sleep?”

“I had a bad dream,” the boy said, sapphire colored eyes dropping to the floor. “I dreamt my dad found me.”

“Aw, kiddo,” Barry said, instinctively going over to scoop the 9-year-old into his arms. “It’s ok, it was just a nightmare. He can’t hurt you anymore, I promise. Everything’s going to be alright, you’re safe now.”

Barry hugged the boy close, rubbing soothing circles into his back when he heard the soft sobs. He hated seeing him like this, each tear like a stab in his heart. He hummed a lullaby that his mother had sung when he was young, listening for the telltale hiccups followed by a deep breath that signaled the end of the crying. He sat down and shifted the child into his lap, gently stroking soft black hair.

“Y-you promise it’ll be ok? Dad won’t find me and take me away?”

“I promise. Your father is gone forever.”

“Good,” came the firm statement. “I never want to see him again.”

“And you never will,” Barry assured him. He gave the boy a squeeze before standing up and setting him down. “Tell you what, how about I make us some hot chocolate and then we both go to bed?”

“And yes, I have mini-marshmallows,” he added, chuckling at the happy smile he got.

Moving at superspeed, Barry poured the milk into a pair of mugs, mixed in the cocoa packets, and placed the mugs in the microwave to heat before returning to his chair. He grinned at the awed look in sapphire eyes and couldn’t resist tousling the young boy’s hair.

“While we wait for the cocoa to finish, want to help me fill out some forms?”

The boy shrugged and climbed into the other chair. “Why do you have to fill out so many?” he asked. “This seems like it’s a lot more than it should be.”

“Well, it is a little hard to get a proper adoption in place when each and every file on the kid ended up erased,” Barry chuckled.

“Well, you shouldn’t have erased them then.”

“You’re the one that made me do it in the first place, Lenny.”


	2. Chapter One - Lenny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place after season 2 of Flash but before season 3. So no Flashpoint or Savitar. Everything that took place with Zoom still happened, Barry was simply able to get through his grief in a healthier manner than time travel. Also takes place before season two of Legends. I am pretending that Len did not die at the Occulus but was saved at the last second.

3 months earlier

 

“Really, Cold?” Flash complained as he dodged a blast from the cold gun. “You get back from a mission with the Legends and the first thing you do is try to rob a bank?”

“I needed a break from all that do-gooding you somehow convinced me to do,” Cold said with that familiar -and very annoying- smirk. “Figured that breaking into First National would be a nice start to a vacation.”

“You consider this a vacation? Seriously?” Flash shook his head at that.

“Two words, Flash. Confederate zombies.”

Flash shook his head again and surged forward the moment he had the chance, grabbing hold of the parka and shoving Captain Cold against the wall. Unfortunately, Cold was very used to that move by now, and he quickly brought the cold gun up and fired. A pained cry was wrenched from Flash and he staggered back, his side covered in ice.

“You need a new move, Red,” Cold smirked, icing Flash’s feet to the floor. “It’s starting to get a little too easy to slow you down.”

Flash just scowled at that, trying to concentrate on vibrating his feet enough to melt the ice. He briefly wished he had told Cisco and Caitlin that he’d be doing an extra patrol today and made a mental note to have a manual on-switch for the thermal conduits added to the suit.

As he tried to get out of the ice, Cold grabbed the bag of cash, gave him a little salute, and all but sauntered straight out the front door. Flash groaned when he heard the roar of a motorcycle engine starting up, knowing that by the time he got himself free, the thief would be long gone.

“Damn it, Snart,” he muttered to himself, finally managing to wrench one foot free. He punched the ice on his other foot to break it and stood, shivering and half covered with frost. He gave himself a second to simply vibrate and warm up before running outside and trying to track his nemesis down, even though he knew it would be no good. Leonard Snart had escaped him again.

With a sigh, Barry decided to cut his losses and head on home where a nice hot shower and 5 pizzas would be waiting for him. He’d just have to be better the next time Snart pulled a heist.

The next day went about as well as he expected. Captain Singh had scolded him for being late again, there was a backlog of evidence he had to process for various cases, and when he went to Star Labs after work, Caitlin scolded him for being out in the field without letting them know and insisted on taking a look at where he had been hit even though she knew that any damage would have long since healed.

“He could have killed you, Barry!” she said, prodding his ribs. “One shot to the head would have been all it took.”

“I know, Cait, I’m sorry,” Barry said, trying not to wince when she poked him a little harder. “But Snart likes having me around, remember? It’s a game to him; he’s not going to kill me.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Caitlin retorted. “And even so, he’s not above shooting you with that cold gun. Just because you heal quickly doesn’t mean it doesn’t take a toll on your body.”  
Barry couldn’t come up with a decent response for that one, mostly because it was true. Even with the protection of the insulated suit, every shot from the cold gun would leave a biting pain for hours afterwards. And it wasn’t just Snart that got good hits in. Some mornings, usually after a particularly brutal fight, he’d be almost too sore to even get out of bed.

“I’ll be more careful, Caitlin, I promise,” he started to say when Cisco ran into the room to interrupt.

“Alarms going off downtown,” the young engineer said. “Apparently some new meta-human is throwing a hissy fit in the middle of the street.”

“I’m on it,” Barry said at once, grateful to have a valid excuse for leaving the lecture. He zipped into his suit before taking off towards the city center.

He skidded to a stop outside of a local diner to survey the scene. From what he could tell, Cisco’s use of the phrase ‘hissy fit’ was on the nose. A young woman was standing in the middle of the road, screaming her head off and throwing… balls of energy?

Flash blinked and rubbed his eyes just to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. The meta was throwing balls of energy around. There seemed to be two different types of the energy orbs - a bright blue that exploded on contact and a smaller red one that let off a flash of light on contact but didn’t seem to be doing any damage.

The police had already arrived but couldn’t get close, blocked off by some fallen lamp posts that were throwing sparks everywhere. Civilians were either running away in a panic or cowering behind parked cars. No one seemed to be injured, but it was only a matter of time before someone got hit. Judging by the property damage, just one hit by those blue orbs would be enough to kill someone. And there was no telling what the red orbs would do. Just because the effect wasn’t obviously visible didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

‘First things first,’ Flash thought, grabbing civilians two by two and running them to safety a few blocks away. He had to dodge the various orbs, which was harder than he thought it’d be since they moved pretty quickly and he had to hold back some so as not to injure the people he carried. He was racing back after dropping off a pair of frightened teens when one of the blue orbs hit a parked car and turned it into flaming scrap metal flying through the air. A large chunk of it was heading straight for the Flash and he quickly realized that he wouldn’t be able to dodge without risking it hitting an innocent person. One who didn’t have accelerated healing.

Flash briefly wondered how much it would hurt to be impaled when the chunk was suddenly pushed aside by a familiar icy blast. Blinking in surprise, Flash looked around, jaw dropping when he spotted Snart crouching behind the rear end of a car. He blinked again as he took in the man’s appearance – no goggles or parka, instead just a simple long dark jacket over a white tee shirt and jeans.

“Snart? What are you doing here?” Flash blurted out. “And did you just save my life?”

-Snart?- came Cisco’s voice over the comms. -Snart’s there? Why would Snart be there? …is Lisa there too?-

-Not the time, Cisco,- Caitlin’s voice scolded.

“Don’t think too much of it, Red,” Snart drawled. “Just didn’t think it’d be very good for my rep if I let you get killed by some random meta having a temper tantrum.”

“Right, that’s the only reason,” Flash smirked. “Gotta protect that rep.”

“Oh shut up and take her down already,” Snart scoffed. “That meta’s ruining lunch time.”

Flash grinned and proceeded to get the rest of the civilians to safety. He didn’t have to worry about any more shrapnel, knowing that Snart would shoot aside any stray pieces, though he still had to watch out for the orbs. Once everyone was well away from danger, he came to a stop in front of the screaming meta.

“Ok, I think you need to calm down before you hurt someone,” Flash said firmly, his voice managing to cut through the woman’s screeching.

“Go away!” she yelled, throwing more energy balls. “Why can’t people just leave me alone?!”

Flash let out a yelp as a blue orb flew right in front of his face, exploding against a wall. He scrambled back as a whole barrage of orbs flew in all directions. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Snart abandon his hiding place right before it was hit. It looked like he was heading for a broken out store-front window, but when he jerked back to avoid getting hit by a blue orb, he backed right into the path of a red one.

“Snart!” Flash cried out in alarm, watching the man get knocked into what was left of a car by the impact and slump to the ground unconscious. With an angry growl, Flash tapped into the Speed Force hard until it was as if everything other than him had stopped in their tracks. He flashed his way up to the meta and delivered a sharp chop to the back of her neck, dropping her instantly. He then made sure that none of the remaining orbs were on a trajectory towards any people and ran to Snart’s side.

The older man was still out, a trickle of blood running down the side of his face from a cut, most likely received by slamming into the car. He didn’t appear to have any other injuries, but there was no way to tell. Flash could only hope that the red orbs were simply duds and that Snart was only unconscious from the collision. He carefully gathered the man into his arms and took off running.

-Guys, I’m heading back to Star Labs,- he said. -Snart was hit by one of those energy orb things and is out cold.-

-Didn’t those orbs explode?- Cisco said.

-Where was he hit?- Caitlin asked at the same moment. -You wouldn’t happen to know his blood type, would you? I’ll get the medbay ready.-

-He didn’t get hit by an exploding one,- Flash cut in. -The one that hit him was smaller and red. They didn’t seem to do anything when they hit the cars and stuff, but that doesn’t mean they have no affect at all. Plus, he got slammed into a car pretty hard.-

As he ran, Flash suddenly realized that his burden was getting lighter. He glanced down at Snart and nearly stumbled in shock at what he saw, only just managing to keep his balance. Snart was getting smaller! And not only that. Flash skidded to a stop and just stared blankly as the 40-something-year-old man grew younger, wrinkles smoothing out and shaved salt-and-pepper hair developing into jet-black locks. In just a few minutes, Flash was holding onto a young child that couldn’t have been more than 10 years old.

-Um, guys? Those red orbs I mentioned? They definitely do something.-

-What? What’d they do?- Cisco asked.

-You’ll just going to have to see it to believe it,- Flash said quietly. -I’ll be there in 30 seconds.-

Readjusting his hold, Flash ran the rest of the way to Star Labs. He went straight into the medbay and gently laid the child down on the berth.

“Um, Barry? I thought you said you were bringing in Snart,” Caitlin said in confusion. “That is not Snart.”

“Actually, it is. I saw him change with my own eyes,” Barry said, pulling back his cowl. “That little kid is Leonard Snart.”

Caitlin’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Are you serious? THAT’S what the red orbs do?”

“Apparently.”

“Wow, ok, um… I’ll have to take a blood sample then, and maybe a brain scan,” Caitlin said, scurrying over to the counter to gather supplies.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” a small voice asked, Flash and Caitlin spinning around to see young Snart awake and sitting up on the berth, looking around with wide, frightened eyes.

“It’s alright,” Caitlin said, approaching the berth with her hands up in a non-threatening gesture. “You were in an accident and brought here to make sure you’re ok.”

“But this isn’t a hospital. I know what hospitals look like,” Snart said, eyes narrowing at them suspiciously.

“No, it’s not a hospital,” Caitlin agreed. “This is Star Labs. The accident was a bit… different… from normal ones, so you were brought here instead of a regular hospital. But I am a doctor, I promise.”

Snart didn’t look like he believed her, the child’s eyes darting around, fear and anger both present. Barry remembered that expression from when Len’s father Lewis had put a bomb into his sister’s neck. That same flicker of emotions had been present, though much more guarded than they were presently. Barry hated seeing a little kid be so afraid and he stepped forward.

“Hey there, Lenny. There’s no need to be scared, no one’s going to hurt you,” he said softly. “Do you know who I am?”

Lenny looked at him for a moment before nodding slowly. “You’re Barry.”

“That’s right. I’m the one who brought you here after you got hit by a meta. Do you know what a meta is?”

Another slow nod. “People with powers.”

Barry nodded back. “That’s right. This is my friend Caitlin. She’s going to give you a check-up to make sure you’re not hurt, ok?”

Lenny glanced over at Caitlin again, still unsure, but Barry could see that he wasn’t as frightened as he was before. It was clear that he didn’t recognize her at all, and Barry wondered why that was when he did know Barry. But at least it meant that he wouldn’t be so afraid, which Barry was grateful for.

Caitlin smiled reassuringly and began the check-up. Lenny was tense when she gave him a scan to check for internal bleeding, though he tried to hide it.

“Ok, you’re not bleeding anywhere and don’t seem to have any broken bones, so that’s good,” Caitlin said, putting away the machines. “Now I just need to check for a possible concussion. Can you tell me your name?” she asked while checking his eyes. Barry knew that she was checking for more than a concussion. She was testing how much Lenny could remember after being whammied.

“Leonard.”

“Good. And how old are you?”

“9 years,” came the prompt reply.

“What year were you born?”

“1975.”

“And what year is it now?”

“2017,” Lenny said, right before his face scrunched up in confusion. “Wait, that’s not right. Is it?”

“No, it is 2017,” Barry told. “Everything you said is correct.”

Lenny just looked at him in confusion, the fear back in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when Cisco entered the room.

“The police have the meta in Iron Heights,” he said. “Joe says that they’re going to charge her with destruction of property, causing a public disturbance, and assault.”

“Thanks for the info, Cisco,” Barry said, noting how Lenny had closed his mouth and was looking at Cisco curiously.

“Hey, who’s the kid?” Cisco asked at the same time Lenny said “Aren’t you that guy my sister likes?”

“Cisco, this is Lenny. Lenny, this is my friend Cisco,” Barry said simply.

“Lenny?” Cisco repeated. “Don’t tell me that kid is Captain Cold!”

“Yup,” Barry said, seeing another flicker of recognition in Lenny’s eyes at the code name.

“So that’s what the red orbs do? Make people younger?”

“Younger?” Lenny said sharply. “What does he mean? Am I supposed to be older?”

“Nice going, Cisco,” Barry said, giving him a look.

“Sorry,” Cisco said.

“I don’t like this,” Lenny said. “I want to go home. I wanna see my sister!”

“Lenny-” Caitlin started, going to put a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“No!” he yelled, pulling away from her. “Don’t touch me!”

“Ok, let’s all just calm down. We can explain exactly what happened,” Barry said, wincing a little at the glare Lenny turned his way. Even as a little kid, he could make himself look pretty intimidating.

“Why should I trust anything you say?” Lenny asked, nothing but suspicion in his gaze once again.

“Look, I know you’re scared and confused right now, but I promise everything’s going to be ok,” Barry said, kneeling down so that he was eye-to-eye with Lenny. “You knew my name, right? That means you remember me. Have I ever lied to you?”

A sullen shrug was the only reply he got.

“I promise we’ll going to figure this out and get you back to normal, but you have to let Caitlin finish her tests,” Barry told him. “If you want, I can call Lisa and have her come down here. Would that make you feel better?”

Lenny nodded quietly. “You’re not going to call my dad, are you?”

“No,” Barry assured him. “We will definitely not be calling your dad at all.”

Lenny smiled a bit, and Barry couldn’t help but feel a little saddened. He knew the kind of man Lewis Snart had been, seen some of it firsthand, but seeing a child so clearly relieved at the news that they would NOT be seeing their father was just heartbreaking.

“I’ll go and call Lisa,” Cisco said, slipping out of the room. Barry did not envy him that conversation.

“Ok, now that that’s settled, it’s time to finish up,” Caitlin said. “Lenny, please roll up your sleeve.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took forever to figure out a way to turn Captain Cold into little Lenny. Finally I just decided to go with the obvious - meta powers. And so... a gal that could come right out of DragonballZ was born.
> 
> I didn't want Lenny to remember everything, as that would go against the point of the story, but I didn't want him to be completely wiped either. So I went down the middle road with him remembering basic facts like the year and such, as well as people that were important to him - which is why he knew who Barry was but not Caitlin.
> 
> I am unsure how many characters I will be using for this as I mostly want to focus on Barry and Lenny. I probably won't be using the Legends cast other than Mick, and maybe not even Wally. It will depend on where the story takes me.
> 
> Next chapter - Lisa and Mick make an appearance and Barry has to explain to Joe why he's bringing a 9-year-old home with him.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry comforts an upset Lenny, and Lisa is NOT happy that Caitlin thinks her brother should stay with Barry instead of her.

Barry sighed as he watched the bag of chips drop from the slot in the vending machine. Caitlin had finished with Lenny and was running the blood tests, leaving them with nothing else to do other than wait for Lisa to arrive. She had been furious when Cisco told her what had happened to her brother, yelling so loudly that she could be heard by the entire room. Barry had found himself covering Lenny’s ears when she started swearing.

“Is Lisa here yet?” Lenny asked, walking over to Barry. He was dressed in a pair of child-sized sweats that Cisco had somehow managed to scrounge up. (When asked about later, Cisco had said that there had once been a childcare room for employees with kids, and some sweats had been bought in case of messes. Said room was now simply storage space.)

“Not yet, but she should be soon,” Barry said. “Would you like a snack while we wait?”

Lenny nodded, looking over the choices. He got himself a bag of crackers and a drink and the pair went back to the other room to eat.

“How old is Lisa?” Lenny suddenly asked. “I remember her as a baby, but if I’m supposed to be older, then that means she’s older too, right?”

“That’s right,” Barry nodded. “I don’t know her exact age, but I think she’s a little older than me and I’m 26.”

Lenny looked at the floor, fiddling with a cracker without eating it. “I’m supposed to be the big brother. I’m supposed to be the one to take care of her. How can I do that when I’m a little kid and she’s a grown-up?”

Barry reached over and ruffled Lenny’s hair. “You do that just by caring about her. You don’t have to be an adult to be a good brother, trust me on that. I’ve seen how much you love her.”

Lenny peeked up at him with a small smile on his face, though his eyes were glistening. It made Barry want to pull the boy into a hug and never let him go. He was about to do so when the sudden sound of yelling made them both jump.

“Where is he?! Where is my brother?!”

“That’s Lisa!” Lenny said, jumping down from the berth.

Barry figured that Lenny would run straight over to his sister as she stormed into the room, but instead he stepped a little closer to Barry, like he was seeking reassurance. Once in the room, Lisa looked around near frantically. The young brunette had an expression Barry had only seen once before, when she had found out her brother was being forced to work with their father to save her life. The same anger and fear was very apparent on her face right now.

“Lenny!” Lisa cried upon seeing the young boy. She ran over and looked as though she was going to just grab him into a bear hug, but pulled up short at the last moment, hands hovering over his shoulders. “What happened?” she asked, glaring accusingly at Barry. “What did that meta do to my brother?”

“Exactly what you see, Lisa,” Barry said. “He got whammied by a meta’s energy ball and it turned him into a kid.”

“That sounds like something from a sci-fi show. A bad one,” a gruff voice said. Barry blinked in surprise and turned around to see Heatwave standing in the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, arms crossed over his chest.

“Mick,” Lenny said, blinking in surprise. “You’re here too?”

Mick nodded, but made no move to come any further into the room. “Lisa called me, saying that Cisco had said something about Snart and a meta. I didn’t like the idea of my partner being hurt and stuck here without me so I got myself to Central. Though I gotta say that this was not what I was expecting.”

“There’s a way to reverse it, right?” Lisa asked. “Tell me you can get him back to normal.”

“We’re not sure yet,” Barry said. “Caitlin’s running some tests, but we don’t know anything at the moment. The effect could wear off in a month, a week, 2 minutes from now… We just don’t know.”

“I told Snart I should’ve come with him,” Mick grumbled. “But he said he wanted some time alone from all the craziness. Guess I was included in that.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Lenny complained, a sour look on his face.

“No,” Mick said simply. “If you hadn’t insisted on me staying onboard that stupid ship while you went on vacation, you might not be in this mess right now.”

Lenny blinked in confusion. “What ship?”

Mick looked surprised by the question. “Whadaya mean ‘what ship?’ The time ship you convinced me to go on with those hero-types, remember? You said it was so we could steal from every point in history, but instead you started playing hero yourself.”

Lenny just looked blank, not knowing what the large man was talking about.

“His memory was affected by what happened,” Barry said quietly. “He seems to remember people better than events, like the 3 of us. He didn’t recognize Caitlin at all though. But he did kind of remember Cisco.”

Mick snorted. “That figures. Damn metas are always screwing stuff up.”

“So you can’t turn him back?” Lisa asked. “Fine. Then I’m taking him home until you figure something out.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Caitlin said as she entered the room. “Lenny is stable for the moment, but the meta’s powers are a complete unknown. He might start de-aging again or suddenly age forward well past what he should be or could even survive.”

“Caitlin, we can’t just keep a 9-year-old here in the lab all night,” Barry said.

“Which is why he’s going to be spending the night at your house,” she replied, ignoring the way his eyes widened in shock. “You’re the only one who’s able to get Lenny back here and then fetch me if anything were to happen. And no offense to the pair of you, but I don’t feel all that comfortable leaving a child alone with 2 criminals.”

“No offense taken,” Mick shrugged.

“Yes, offense taken!” Lisa said indignantly. “He’s my brother! You honestly think I can’t protect him?”

“I’m sure that’s not what Caitlin meant,” Barry interjected hastily. “And don’t you think it would be better for Lenny to stay with his sister, Cait? Surely he’d feel more comfortable with her instead of me.”

Caitlin shook her head. “It’s not about comfort, it’s about safety. He’s been hit with an unknown power with unknown effects. Until I can get some answers, he’s better off staying with you. Not to mention, I’m sure that there are a lot of people who want Leonard Snart dead. Do you really think any of them would hesitate just because he’s currently a child?”

“Talking about me like I’m not here again,” Lenny muttered.

“Hate to tell you this, Lise, but the doc’s right,” Mick suddenly interjected. “I’m not exactly the best choice to be watching a kid, and while you could easily take out any random goons, if someone like Jesse or Mardon get wind of this…” The pyro shrugged, figuring that he didn’t need to say anymore.

Lisa pouted and gave Mick her best wounded look, which he completely ignored. She then gave an exaggerated huff and crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess I’m outvoted then. Which is stupid since he’s MY brother!”

“And as his sister, I’m sure you want to keep him as safe as possible,” Caitlin pointed out, managing to sound both reasonable and a little bit smug.

Barry groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. “Fine, I’ll bring him home with me. And speaking of which, it’s late and I know I’m exhausted. If you don’t need me or Lenny for anything else, we’re leaving.”

“Keep your phone on you at all times,” Caitlin said. “I need to be able to reach you if I find something.”

Barry nodded and turned to Lenny. “You ready to go?”

“Oh no, not without giving me that phone number!” Lisa said firmly. “I am NOT letting you take my brother without a way to contact him!”

“Fair enough,” Barry agreed, giving her his cell number and adding the number she gave him into his phone, though he knew it would only be good for as long as her brother was in his care. He then turned back to Lenny who had a wary look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Your dad’s a cop,” Lenny said more than asked. “My dad’s a cop.”

“I know, but Joe is nothing like Lewis, I promise,” Barry said, instantly realizing what Lenny was afraid of. “Joe’s one of the good guys.”

He heard Lisa give a quiet snort, probably at the thought of any cop being good, but he ignored her and knelt in front of Lenny. Bright blue eyes blinked at him, worried yet trying to hide it. Barry smiled and gently ruffled his hair, holding back a chuckle when that produced a scowl and a small hand batting his away.

“Come on, we should get going,” Barry said. “I promise, I’ll bring you right back here to see your sister tomorrow.”

Lenny nodded at that and said a quick goodbye to Lisa and Mick. Barry then picked him up and headed out, running relatively slowly to avoid their clothes catching on fire. Reaching the house, Barry skidded to a stop and gently set him down on the porch steps. He then turned and unlocked the door, guiding the boy inside.

“Joe! You home?” Barry called out.

“I’m in the kitchen!” came the reply.

“This way, Lenny,” Barry said, guiding him through the house.

Entering the kitchen, Barry smiled at the sight of his foster father chopping carrots and celery on the counter. A pot of soup was bubbling away on the stove, the aroma already drifting through the house. The scent of roast beef could also be detected from the oven.

“Glad you’re home, Barr,” Joe said without turning around. “Could you peel and chop some potatoes for me? 10 should be enough, I think.”

“Sure thing, Joe,” Barry said. “But later. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Did something happen on patrol?” Joe asked immediately, spinning around.

“You could say that,” Barry said sheepishly. He stepped to the side and gently nudged Lenny forward from where he had been trying to hide behind him. “This is Lenny. He needs a place to stay for a while.”

“A place to stay?” Joe repeated.

Barry nodded quietly. “You heard about the meta attack downtown, right? Lenny was there and got hit by… whatever the heck she was throwing around.”

“And you brought him here instead of the hospital? His parents must be worried sick!” Joe scolded. 

“What were you thinking?”

“It’s not like that!” Barry protested. “I took him to Star Labs and Caitlin gave him a check-up! He’s fine, but we don’t know what the meta’s powers really do and Caitlin wanted me to stay close to him in case something happened!”

“That’s not Caitlin’s decision to make, Barr,” Joe said sternly. “It’s the decision of his parents. I am very-”

“I don’t have any parents,” Lenny said, interrupting Joe’s rant before it could get off the ground. “My mom died when I was a baby, and my dad’s not around.”

Joe blinked at that, the information stunning him into calming down slightly. “I-I see. But what about foster parents? Any family at all?”

“It’s complicated, Joe,” Barry told him. “It’s only going to be for a little while. I wouldn’t have brought him here if he had someone better to stay with.”

Joe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to ward off an impending headache. “No choice in the matter, huh? Fine. He can stay in Iris’ old room.”

“Great!” Barry said with a smile. “You finish cooking dinner while I show Lenny his room. You still have my old clothes in the attic, right?”

Without waiting for a reply, Barry turned around and began ushering Lenny towards the stairs.

“I didn’t move in with Joe until I was 11, but I was a little small for my age, so my old clothes should fit you well enough,” he said. “And if this hasn’t worn off in a few days, I’ll take you to get some new ones.”

“What if… what if it never wears off?” Lenny asked in a whisper.

Barry stopped and looked down, spotting the way Lenny’s fist was clenched tight and tears were starting to gather at the corner of his eyes. Barry knelt and gently raised the boy’s face to look him in the eye. “If it doesn’t, then I promise that I’ll take care of you.”

“Why? Why would you do that for me?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Barry said, chuckling at the quiet scoff he got in reply. “And because I care about you. You’re a good kid, Lenny.”

“That name that Cisco said… Captain Cold. That’s what people called me, right? When I took stuff from them,” Lenny said, staring at the floor.

Barry sighed a little. “Yeah. You were a thief,” he admitted.

“Like my dad.”

“No,” Barry said firmly. “You are NOTHING like your father. Lewis Snart was a monster, you’re not. You never liked hurting people if you could avoid it.”

“I still robbed people,” Lenny said quietly.

“Only because Lewis made you think you couldn’t be anything better. He knew he was a loser, so in his mind that meant that you were one too. But he was wrong.”

Lenny scuffed his feet, still not looking up. The sad expression on his face made Barry’s heart ache. As an adult, Snart had accepted his criminal ways, knowing he had been more or less forced into it but making it work for him with a sense of style and a code of honor Lewis never had. Yet little Lenny was almost on the verge of tears at the thought of being even just a little bit like his father.

Gently guiding Lenny the rest of the way into Iris’ old room, Barry picked him up and sat him on the bed. He then knelt to be at the same eye level with him.

“Lenny, I want you to look at me,” he said softly, waiting for the boy to meet his eyes before speaking again. “Yes, it’s true that you’ve made some bad choices. But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Remember the ship Mick mentioned? You joined a team and went on a quest to save the world.”

“That sounds like some TV show for kids,” Lenny said.

Barry chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, I can’t really argue with that. But it happened. You not only helped save the world, but you were willing to give everything to save Mick’s life.”

“I was?” Lenny said, looking up in surprise.

Barry nodded with a smile. “You were. You always said you weren’t a hero, but I always knew you could be.”

Lenny ducked his head, a faint blush on his cheeks. Barry smiled again, resisting the urge to hug him.

“Ok, I’m going to go find the box with my old clothes and I’ll be right back. The bathroom’s right down the hall if you need it, and there are tons of books to read.”

Lenny nodded, kicking his feet a bit. Barry ruffled his hair again, chuckling at the frankly adorable scowl it got him, and zipped upstairs to the attic. The box with his childhood clothes was found, checked for bugs, and then zipped downstairs to the laundry room to be washed.

“Barry!” Joe scolded after Barry went to normal speed to fill the washing machine. “You can’t use your superspeed right now! Lenny may be a kid, but if he sees you, he’ll figure it out and could let it slip to the wrong person!”

“Well, actually… he kinda… already… knows,” Barry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and flushing under Joe’s stare. How was he going to explain this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a very long chapter, but I thought that was the best place to cut it off. Barry is going to have a hard time figuring out how to tell Joe just why Lenny knows he's the Flash without letting on just who Lenny is.
> 
> Anyone got a good idea for a chapter title?
> 
> Next chapter will have some Lenny-Barry bonding and Lisa interrogating Barry intensely.


End file.
